Rosie Brennan is back.

In the heart of Drammen, Norway, amidst one of the most exciting and challenging races on the circuit, Rosie Brennan made a remarkable comeback, clinching third place in the Drammen City Sprints.

In a season that started with back-to-back podiums and top-10 after top-10, Brennan has faced many ups and downs this 2023-24 season. After only three days rest between last week's 50k Holmenkollen, where athletes skied 31+ miles with over 6,000 feet of elevation gain, Brennan and the field were tasked with a course that played to double pole strength and a whole lot of grit.

"Honestly, I'm a bit surprised! I felt really bad yesterday, so I think the extra day helped. You never know what the body will do - maybe I need to do a 50k warm-up all the time!" Brennan joked. "I am so happy. It's been a tough year. I didn't know what was going on or what I could do to get back, but it's nice to know that it's still there and that I can have a strong finish to the season."

With the podium, Brennan snags her fifth individual podium of the season, but even more special, she finally can check the box on two of her career-long goals. When starting her career, Brennan set out to collect bibs 1-50. With 228 World Cup starts and today's bib #3, Brennan collected 1-50, checking off a goal that seemed impossible towards the beginning of her career. Her second, and more important, goal was to podium in every single World Cup discipline - both classic and sprint, skate and distance. Today, she achieved that goal with her third-place result in the classic sprint. 

But Brennan wasn't the only one shining on the classic tracks today. Her teammates also had a stellar performance, with three U.S. women joining Brennan in the sprint heats and three U.S. men advancing through from the qualification round. This strong representation underscored the depth of talent within the Stifel U.S. Cross Country Ski Team and once again put the red, white and blue in full display among the thousands of Norwegian flags lining every square inch of the Drammen city sprint loop. 

In the men's race, the U.S. contingent continued to impress with three men, including Zanden McMullen, securing spots in the heats. McMullen's performance was particularly noteworthy as he achieved his career-best result, finishing in 17th place. His result comes off the back of a strong season for the young Alaskan, who bested his previous result in nearly every World Cup weekend. Alongside McMullen was the leading man, JC Schoonmaker. Schoonmaker skied a tactical, gritty race to advance through to the finals, where he finished sixth. He is having a stellar season, with back-to-back top 10s and his career-first podium earlier this winter in the Östersund classic sprint. Zak Ketterson was the third American to advance and though his day ended with the quarterfinal, he nabbed another top-30 result to add to his strong World Cup resume. 

"It feels great to be back in the finals just to know I can be in there," said Schoonmaker. "For sure would’ve loved to put up more of a fight in the end, but it’s some pretty fast guys in there and they don’t make it easy. I went into today trying to focus on trusting my finishing ability and even though I wasn’t finishing very well, it put me in a good position to move on. Was glad to feel like I was making smart choices and being active mentally during the heats."

For the women, it was Brennan, Julia Kern and Jessie Diggins punching their ticket to the heats. Brennan qualified third, setting herself up nicely going into the quarters with Diggins and Kern close behind. Brennan and Kern qualified through to semifinals, while Diggins did not advance out of the quarters. In the semis, Brennan crossed the line in fourth, advancing through based on her time; Kern did not advance but still finished the day in seventh, a testament to her strong skiing through the day and another noteworthy top 10 to her resume, on her favorite course no less.

Into the finals, in the decisive moments of the race, Brennan's grit showed. With a burst of speed in the final stretch, she surged ahead, securing her place on the podium with a well-earned third place. Met by nearly her entire team, including all the wax technicians and coaching staff, the team celebrated yet another Stifel U.S. Ski Team podium with the city of Drammen cheering right behind them.

For the women, Brennan led the way on the podium, Kern seventh, Diggins 16th, Erin Bianco of Bridger Ski Foundation in 36th, Sammy Smith of the Stifel U.S. Cross Country Ski Team D Team in 42nd, and Alaska Pacific Universities Renae Anderson in 43. For the men, Schoonmaker was sixth, McMullen 17th, Zak Ketterson 29th, Gus Schumacher 32nd, Kevin Bolger of Team Birkie 34th, Luke Jager 41st and Michael Earnhart 52nd. 

Now the team resets for yet another race weekend, only 48 hours away, where they will close out this historic season in Falun, Sweden for the cross country World Cup Finals. 

Tuesday's results in Drammen ended with Norway's Kristine Stavaas Skistad and Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo taking home the victory for the women and men. Diggins continues to lead the overall World Cup standings by 102 points ahead of Sweden's Linn Svahn; Brennan sits fifth.

RESULTS
Women
Men

Lucas Foster earned his first career pro-level podium on Sunday, March 10, taking third place in the Dew Tour superpipe competition and landing a trick no other rider dares to throw – the double alley-oop mctwist.

It was a showdown between the Japanese riders and the Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team and the Japanese dominated the top four spots heading into run two. Foster dropped in for the final time in front of an amped crowd that collectively held their breath as he laced together the first four hits of his run, setting him up to throw the never-been-done alley-oop double mctwist. Foster had previously landed the trick in World Cup competition but fell on a later hit, so landing it clean in Copper was a first for the Telluride local.

Foster launched himself into the air and soared over the Dew Tour superpipe, stomping the landing to send the crowd into an eruption of excitement and relief. After a season of countless attempts to put together this very run, Foster shared an emotional moment with his friends and family as the judges awarded him with a 94.00, marking the highest scoring run he’s ever put down in a contest and securing the first major pro podium of his career.

“I’ve been so close so many times, so it feels overdue,” said Foster. “I’m just glad I trusted my run plan today and let it all come together. All the hard work is paying off.”

With the spin-to-win mentality making its way into sport and triples becoming more common, Foster's unique riding style sets him apart from fellow competitors. “I think it’s important to have your own signature tricks,” said Foster. “Halfpipe is so competitive and I want to do what I can to stand out to be Lucas, not just another halfpipe rider.”

At Dew Tour, he certainly set himself apart. After a season of highs and lows, a podium finish reignited Foster’s drive and passion for the sport heading into next season.

“I honestly was debating doing Dew Tour a few weeks ago because I was feeling burnt out after the long World Cup tour, so I really just let go and had fun riding in front of the home crowd,” he said. “It just feels right because I’ve been working so hard and having it all come together and be rewarded for it makes all of the challenges worth it. I’m so glad I didn’t give up. There are still a lot of tricks that I want to learn and a lot that I have but are not in my run yet, so I’m excited to really get a run dialed in that I know I’m capable of. This is just a green light to keep going.”

Foster was joined in the finals by Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team teammates Alessandro Barbieri, Chase Blackwell and Chase Josey. Josey also surprised the crowd with a never-been-done trick of his own, pulling out an ally-oop double rodeo flip to showcase his ever-growing bag of tricks. The squad faced tough competition with the likes of Japan’s Ayumu Hirano, Yuto Totsuka, Kaishu Hirano and Ruka Hirano, but Josey’s creativity earned him sixth overall. Barbieri ended the day in seventh and Blackwell rounded out the crew in eighth. 

With the halfpipe season done and dusted, the squad will take a well-deserved break before setting their sights on summer training for the 2024-25 season

Chris Lillis capped off the 2023-24 aerials World Cup circuit third on the podium on the day and third in the overall season standings. 

The Stifel U.S. Freestyle Ski Team aerials athletes took on the final World Cup of the season today in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Things took an unexpected turn as intense fog rolled in, causing results to be based on the qualification round. 

All five U.S. women and two men were set to compete in today’s finals, with Chris Lillis and Tasia Tanner leading the way in third and fifth, respectively. Lillis completed an excellent back full double full full, besting some of the greats, including overall silver medalist Pirmin Werner of Switzerland. Connor Curran landed just outside the top five in sixth. Derek Krueger finished 22nd.

Tanner executed a technically proficient back lay full on the women’s side to put herself in fifth place. Karenna Elliott was not far behind in seventh, followed by Kaila Kuhn in eighth, Winter Vinecki in 10th and Megan Smallhouse in 11th. 

In a typical competition, many athletes save their higher-difficulty tricks for later rounds to secure themselves a spot in finals by perfecting their easier skills early on. This choice had a big impact in today’s competition due to the cancelation of finals. Athletes who chose to perform harder skills in qualifying, such as Marion Thenault of Canada, were automatically in a better position in today’s scenario. 

The most significant impact of today’s format change was regarding the overall aerials Crystal Globe. Heading into the final competition, Winter Vinecki led the standings by just 12 points ahead of Australia's Danielle Scott. Vinecki qualified in 10th, while Scott was in second place, allowing Scott to take over the Crystal Globe. Although Vinecki did not finish on top, this was still a breakthrough season for her as one of the only women competing triples and consistently in contention for the top box in any competition. 

This season was also a breakthrough for Tasia Tanner, who was awarded the coveted FIS Rookie of the Year award. Her consistent performances and beautiful execution made her the obvious choice for this year's award. Tanner's results, along with every member of the team’s results, led the U.S. to win the overall aerials Nations Cup for the 2023-24 season. The award is an accumulation of the entire team’s results across the season compared to those of other nations. 

RESULTS
Women
Men

Mikaela Shiffrin of the Stifel U.S. Ski Team made a dramatic return to the World Cup after weeks away on injury, winning the slalom in Åre, Sweden, by 1.24 seconds and clinching a record-tying eighth career slalom Crystal Globe.

Shiffrin had not competed since the end of January when she crashed in the downhill at Cortina d’Ampezzo, straining her meniscus. Since then, she has worked relentlessly over the last six weeks to get her knee ready to race again. She announced just prior to Åre that she would just be skiing the slalom and skipping the giant slalom.

“Everything was so day by day and step by step,” said Shiffrin after the race. “If I thought about the future, even if it was a week from that point, I would just start panicking. Even last week, we weren’t sure if I could ski either of these races, even just the slalom. It was important to stay in the right mind at the moment.”

She had a strong run out of the start on the first run to finish first and didn’t take anything off in the second run, skiing aggressively in a fast-tempo course to win by more than a second.

“There has been so much uncertainty coming into this race,” said Shiffrin. “The biggest goal I had was good skiing in the final races of the season. Having the chance to do that again before the season was over felt so important so I could prove that I have the right pace and mentality to close out the season, so next year, I will start in a better place. That was really important to me.”

Shiffrin beat out Zrinka Ljutic of Croatia, who finished second. Michelle Gisin of Switzerland was third.

The win clinched Shiffrin’s eighth Crystal Globe in slalom, tying her with Lindsey Vonn and Ingemar Stenmark, who also hold eight discipline Globes. Stenmark’s are in giant slalom and slalom, while Vonn’s are in downhill. Marcel Hirscher also has eight overall crystal Globes.

Despite being out for six weeks with an injury, Shiffrin only missed one slalom World Cup. Out of the 10 possible slalom races, she won six, had one second place, and had one-fourth to capture her 16th total Globe.

Åre is a treasured place for Shiffrin, hosting many of her best moments in her career. It was the site of her first World Cup win when she was 17. She won the gold medal in slalom there at the 2019 World Championships. She became the winningest alpine skier of all time last season when she won her 87th career World Cup at the same venue.

Paula Moltzan also had a great day, finishing 10th and standing 10th overall in the slalom standings. Moltzan was third place in the last slalom World Cup and has five top-10 results in slalom this season. AJ Hurt and Lila Lapanja did not qualify for a second run.

The women have one final slalom at World Cup Finals in Saalbach, Austria, on March 16.

RESULTS
Women’s slalom

Seven members of the Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team qualified for the round of finals under the lights in Cortina, Italy, a season high for the squad. Olympian Jake Vedder was once again the top finisher for the men, taking second place in dramatic fashion. 

Vedder left it all on the course, throwing himself across the line to force a photo finish review. Despite the effort, Vedder was unable to edge out Canada’s Eilot Grondin, who continues to dominate the World Cup circuit. This marks Vedder’s third podium of the season and his second consecutive following a third place finish in Sierra Nevada last weekend.

“It was amazing to race under the lights here in Italy,” said Vedder, “I was second at this venue last year and felt really good energy coming into this race. I’m very happy with my performance but it’s a team effort and I want to give a lot of credit to my wax techs for putting me on the fastest boards possible and my coaches for making sure my line choices were dialed. Excited to head into Montafon next week. Gotta keep this train rolling!”  

Joining Vedder on the men’s side was Olympian Hagen Kearney and teammates Tyler Hamel and Senna Leith, but all three fell in the eighth final, while Olympic gold medalist Nick Baumgartner ended his night in the quarterfinals.

Rookie Nathan Pare had his best World Cup result of his career, qualifying all the way through to the small final and ultimately taking seventh place.

Lindsey Jacobellis was the sole American competitor on the women’s side but unfortunately fell short of advancing out of the quarterfinal. 

The Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team snowboard cross riders shift their focus to the upcoming World Cup double header in Montafon, Austria March 15-17.

RESULTS
Women
Men

Maddie Mastro capped off her dominant World Cup season with a win in the superpipe at the 2024 Dew Tour. Despite earning multiple podium finishes throughout her career, the win is particularly sweet as it marks her first time on top of the podium in five years, with her last victory coming at the 2019 Burton U.S. Open.

The win wasn’t going to be easy for Mastro, who was up against a stacked field of riders including 2023-24 FIS World Cup crystal globe winner Mitsuki Ono. Mastro finished second to Ono in the World Cup overall standings this season and the two were favored to battle it out for the top spot in Saturday’s competition.

Sitting in third heading into her third run, Mastro seemed relaxed yet determined, as she dropped in the iconic Dew Tour superpipe for the final time. The crowd anxiously watched from the bottom, knowing her position on the podium would ultimately come down to if she could land her signature last hit, the double crippler.

“It’s one of my favorite tricks to do, so nerves are very minimal,” said Mastro. “In that moment I’m just trying to tell myself to breathe and go over what to do in my head. The win feels pretty amazing, I’ve had a lot of seconds and thirds in my career so this one feels really, really good.”

Mastro was joined by teammates Sonora Alba and Kinsley White, who finished the day in fourth place and sixth place, respectively.

Attention shifted to the streetstyle course where Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team’s Luke Winkelmann threw down under the lights in front of a rowdy crowd of fans. After qualifying out of heat two in the top spot, Winkelmann put down two solid runs to best Salt Lake City streetstyle icon Joey Fava in the round of duals, guaranteeing him a spot on the podium.

Canadian’s Liam Brearly and Darcy Sharpe joined Winkelmann in the final round where the best of two runs would decide the podium order. Winkelmann’s run two score of 88.66 was good enough to best Sharpe but not enough to take the top spot away from Brearly, whose breakout season has been nothing short of impressive.

The Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team continues their Dew Tour campaign Sunday, March 10 with the men’s snowboard superpipe competition.

RESULTS
Dew Tour Results

Alex Ferreira did what no other freeskier has done before, winning seven out of the seven halfpipe events on Saturday. He took his seventh victory at the men’s freeski superpipe at the 2024 Dew Tour to cement his place in the record books, lacing together the most dominant season in freeski history.

Along with a perfect World Cup season where he won all five events he entered, Ferreira’s X Games victory in February put him in the position to accomplish the 7/7 feat. With history on the line, Ferreira dropped into the Dew Tour superpipe under sunny skies and in front of a crowd of excited fans hoping to witness the seemingly impossible.

Ferreira seemed to have history locked in after only run one, scoring a huge 92.66, ending with his signature pole swing. But in typical Ferreira fashion, he had more tricks up his sleeve and one-upped himself on run two, scoring a 94.33 in what would ultimately be the history-making run. 

“The season started with a dub and ended with a dub,” said Ferreira, “I can’t believe it, perfect season? I’m in awe and just so grateful. Best day of my life.”

Ferreira was unable to land a double-cork 18 on his final run, a trick that has never been done in freeski halfpipe competition, but the attempt left an impression, showing he has no signs of slowing down heading into the 2024-25 season.

2013 Dew Tour freeski slopestyle champion Nick Geopper earned his first Dew Tour halfpipe podium with a second place finish, scoring a 91.00 to put him just behind teammate Ferreira. Sporting his signature pair of Lucky jeans, Geopper debuted a new final hit to earn himself a spot on the Dew Tour podium to end his highly anticipated comeback season.

Stifel U.S. Freeski Team teammates Hunter Hess, Tristan Feinberg and Dew Tour legend David Wise joined Ferreira and Goepper in the field of eight competitors. Hess finished fifth, Feinberg landed in sixth and Wise rounded out the field in eighth.

RESULTS
Men's superpipe

The 2024 FIS World Criterium Masters event was held at Kimberely Alpine Resort in BC March 1-7.  The event featured 148 racers from 15 countries - CAN, USA, AUS, AUT, CHI, CZE, EST, FRA, GBR, GER, HUN, ITA, JPN, SUI, SWE. The USA Masters delegation included 41 racers between 38-88 years old. The week started with significant snow and event delays but with a little luck and a lot of effort and hard work from the organizers, all planned races were able to be held over the 5 days of competition!

The USA Racers won big bringing home 60 medals from the event!

Full event results on the FIS website 

Video Recap

Facebook Photo Albums from the Canadian Alpine Masters (look for the ones that say WCM)

The final tech series of the regular World Cup season for the Stifel U.S. Ski Team women kicked off on Saturday, March 9. Paula Moltzan and AJ Hurt finished back-to-back in the giant slalom in 10th and 11th, respectively. 

For Moltzan, finishing in the top 10 was a feat within itself, given a mistake in her first run that sent her hip dragging heading into the final gates of the race. 

"I think we're pretty darn close as a team to where we want to be, but I feel a couple of steps behind in GS right now," said Moltzan. "I think I need to find another second or so to contend with the top five, but I've had a pretty consistent GS season. It hasn't been perfect, but it's been good, so I'm happy with it."

For Hurt, this is her fifth finish in the top 15 this season. After kicking off the year in Soelden, unable to qualify for a second run, ending her giant slalom year less than half a second out of the top 10 feels good. 

"It's been a long road, but I feel like we're finally getting there," Hurt said in response to a comment about the development of the U.S. women's tech team. "Our coach, Magnus Andersson is from Sweden and he just wants us to do well and I think we want to prove him right."

On Sunday, both Moltzan and Hurt will compete in the final slalom of the regular season. Mikaela Shiffrin will also return to racing after her injury in Cortina. 

RESULTS
Women's giant slalom

SLALOM STARTERS
Mikaela Shiffrin (5)
Paula Moltzan (13)
AJ Hurt (32)
Lila Lapanja (48)

HOW TO WATCH
4:30 a.m. - run 1, women's slalom - LIVE on skiandsnowboard.live
7:30 a.m. - run 2, women's slalom -  LIVE on skiandsnowboard.live
Watch on-demand on Outside Watch

It was déjà vu at Friday night's 2024 Dew Tour Men's Ski Streetstyle competition, with defending champion Colby Stevenson reclaiming the top spot and Stifel U.S. Freeski Team teammate Alex Hall taking third for the second year in a row. American Tucker Fitzsimons, brother of Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team's Sean Fitzsimons, defended his second place position from last year's contest. 

In route to the title, Stevenson qualified in the top spot out of heat three, took out USA's Andrew Egan in a close round of duals and won the final with a high score of 96.00. 

The atmosphere was electric, with DJ Ship Wrek performing right next to the course to hype up fans and spectators. 

"Honestly, this is one of the best crowds we get. I was feeding off the energy for sure," said Stevenson. "With everyone chanting, I was stoked. 

"This is such a sick event, Dew Tour is one of the biggest in our sport so this means a lot to have everyone out here to support."

The 20th year of Dew Tour continues Saturday, March 9, with the men's ski superpipe, women's snowboard superpipe, women's ski streetstyle and men's snowboard streetstyle. The women's ski superpipe, originally scheduled for Friday afternoon, was postponed to Sunday morning, March 10.